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Do not bring beer.

Bring a good sound, and DON'T bring any wrong notes!

tubatooter1940 wrote:Do not bring beer.

For some committees that might actually be an advantage, but you might want to check first.

Cell Phone.

tubatooter1940 wrote:Do not bring beer.

But DO bring cash, lots of it. Cain't hurt.

Leave the grill at home:

<img src="http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/ ... -42999.jpg" width=400>

Take your grillz and beer. I mean, if the odds are against you to begin with, you may as well at least have fun in the process.

Sometimes you need to remember that the appearance of a musical group is very important to the audience's perceived quality of performance. Audition committees may factor in how you make their orchestra look before hiring.

As people had hinted to above... people seeing you playing a helicon may not take you seriously and may not advance you (because they perceive the quality of your performance to be less). This is EXACTLY the reason why "singers" on American (and Canadian) Idol who cannot sing in tune keep on being advanced - a popularity contest.

Not only should you leave the helicon at home, you should also leave the jeans and t-shirt at home. I'm not saying you should wear a tux, but wear some nice clothing. That will go a long way in improving the "perceived quality" of your performance.

Do I like it, no... but it's reality!

Except for military service, all of my professional auditions have been behind a screen. I was told to go casual in my invitation. I think the thing you shouldn't bring is a bad attitude.

So don't be a tool that makes the committee laugh about you for years. Leave the ego and attitude at home.

Truer words have never been spoken. I have been seated in groups ahead of people that were better players than I am for this very reason. I have also gotten and maintained jobs because the guy before me was such a tool .

DO wear a T-shirt that says "you ALL suck", and if the audition is behind a screen, belch loudly when you go in.

I need the work.

Job interviews in general are in the "don't be a tool" category. Candidates who will be working closely with you for the foreseeable future are much more attractive for their personality traits than their technical prowess, as long as the technical abilities are in the acceptable range. We'd much rather give someone some training and time to learn than put up with a genius who is a royal pain in the neck.

Good sales training, the type that teaches you how to get people to like you, would be extremely valuable for tool types.

MA, who really doesn't know what a "tool" is but figured the generality based on context

LoyalTubist wrote:all of my professional auditions have been behind a screen

In many auditions, if you make it to the later rounds, and they hold them on the same day, they may drop the screen, especially if you are playing with a section. Depends on the contract. So dress decent.

In my first behind the screen audition, I won the job without a retry. They never knew I was wearing my "Singapore is a Fine City" T-shirt.

Well, if you won, didn't they have you meet the music director and the committee after? No sense for a screen when you GOT the gig

(no urinating in lifts!?)

No, a security guard showed the way. I was informed by phone.

(My Fine City shirt doesn't have the part about urinating. It instead says, "Always flush after using.")

One of the best bar bands I had was a group the was not so greatly talented, but had the ability to rise to the occasion. They were super people and enjoyed each other and what we were doing so much that the party started at the band stand and spread outward, involving everybody in the room except those who have been described in this thread as "tools."

When I select people for brass quintets, or when someone asks me for my suggestion, I go for "good personality" hands down. As long as this person with a good personality is a decent (ie acceptable) player, I would much rather work with him/her than the better player (who is a "tool").

I have found that when using good players, with bad personalities, the group does not get along, has difficulty rehearsing and thus will put on a worse show than lesser quality musicians who get along well.

Funny, why did a generic image of a "trumpet player" pop into my mind, when the words tool/jerk were evoked?

I believe that there is a big difference in the importance of a player's personality, when comparing a pick up gig, to a long term rehearsal situation.

I was referring long term rehearsal situation in my post. If it's just to show up and play a gig, a pick up gig, then yeah it doesn't matter if they're a jerk.

Bloke, I know exactly what you're saying about organists/choirmasters sometimes (I think often) being tools... and I find it quite amusing as well!

I actually think there is a cultural influence here.

I've lived in two generally separate cultures in the US, one in the Northeast and one in the Southwest.

In the Northeast culture, it was "efficiency before courtesy." Everybody, pretty much, if given a choice, would choose the most efficient way of whatever, over the most courteous way, and get frustrated if someone lolligagged about with social niceties over getting the job done.

When I moved the the Southwest, I found the exact opposite. Courtesy is first and foremost, and while efficiency is appreciated, it will be simply ignored in favor of courtesy. I still find myself wiggling inside when in situations where the social niceties are taking up much of the time I'd rather see being put into just getting the job done. But when I visit back Northeast, I find I'm more aculturated to the Southwest than I thought, because I now find many Northeasterners to be impossibly rude, shouting in my face and interrupting me. However, it is nice to be able to give my order in one sentence to the people who work in the fast food places, instead of having to say one thing, wait while they punch it in, say the next thing, wait again, ad infinitem.

MA